Chapter 1

Introduction
In today‟s highly competitive and dynamic world, it is the data and information that
fuels the engine of the computer communication and global economy. With the boost
in computer power, the internet and with the development of digital signal processing
(DSP), steganography has gone „„digital‟‟ (Sharma and Shrivastava, 2012). In order
to ensure that data is secured and does not go to unintended destination, the concept of
data hiding has attracted researchers to come up with creative solutions to protect a
piece of information from falling into wrong hands (Abraham and Paprzycki, 2004).
This idea of data hiding is not a novelty but it has been used for centuries all across
the world under different regimes which is a tool for hiding information so that it does
not even appear to exist (Pavani et al., 2013). Over the past decade methods,
techniques and technologies to conceal digital evidence and communicate covertly
have increased alarmingly (Hosmer, 2006). Thus people have adapted different means
of concealing information.

Digital data provides easy way of editing and modifying of data which can be copied
without any loss in quality and content. Digital data can be delivered over computer
networks from one place to another without any errors and often without interference.
The distribution of digital data raised a concern over the years as the data are attacked
and manipulated by unauthorized person. Digital content is now posing formidable
challenges to content developers, aggregators, distributors and users (Reddy et al.,
2011). Now a day, a lot of applications are internet-based and in some cases it is
desired that the communication be made secret (Mandal, 2012). The Internet provides
a way of communication to distribute information to the masses. Since the rise of the
internet, one of the most important factors of information technology and
communication has been the security of information (Kanzariya and Nimavat, 2013).
This is because of the fact that data are being transmitted or exchanged over some
public communication channel. Therefore, the confidentiality and data integrity are
required to be protected against unauthorized access and use (Abraham and

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Paprzycki, 2004). Therefore, how to achieve safe secret communication is an

important field of research. Techniques for data hiding are increasing day by day
with more sophisticated approach. The digital media which are used for secret
communication includes text, images, audio and videos which provide excellent
carriers for hidden information. Data hiding is a method of hiding secret messages
into a cover-media such that an unintended observer will not be aware of the existence
of the hidden messages (Chan and Cheng, 2004). Data hiding techniques provide an
interesting challenge for digital forensic investigators. One of the main concerns in
this field is the ability to privately exchange information and hide the data of interest
throughout the transmission process (Aabed et al., 2007).

One of the most popular and powerful data hiding techniques is Steganography. It is
the method of writing secret messages in such a way that no one apart from the sender
and intended recipient even realizes about its existence. Steganography is the art and
science of invisible communication which is accomplished through hiding
information in other information, thus hiding the existence of the communicated
information (Kanzariya and Nimavat, 2013). In the realm of this digital world,
steganography has created an atmosphere of corporate vigilance that has spawned
various interesting applications, thus its continuing evolution is guaranteed (Sharma
and Shrivastava, 2012). Steganography provides a means of secret communication
which cannot be removed without significantly altering the data in which it is
embedded (Jain et al., 2012a). Today Steganography is mostly used on computers
with digital data being the carriers and networks being the high speed delivery
channels. Many steganography techniques that embed secret messages in multimedia
objects have been proposed. This is largely due to the fact that multimedia objects
often have a highly redundant representation which usually permits the addition of
significantly large amounts of stego-data by means of simple and subtle modifications
that preserve the perceptual content of the underlying cover object (Chandramouli and
Memon, 2001). Almost all digital file formats can be used for Steganography, but the
formats that are more suitable are those with a high degree of redundancy and the
redundant bits of an object are those bits that can be altered without the alteration
being detected easily (Kumar et al., 2012). This is usually done by embedding the
private data in a cover media without destroying the meaningfulness of this media
(Aabed et al., 2007). Steganography programs allow the user to select a carrier, which

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is an original image or any digital media that they wish to use as the vector to carry
the hidden data (Hosmer, 2006). Digital images have high degree of redundancy in
representation and pervasive applications in daily life, thus appealing for hiding data
(Li et al., 2011). Indeed, if steganography were defined to mean that the perceptual
content of the cover-object is indistinguishable from the stego-object then such
techniques can be deemed to be effective and efficient (Chandramouli and Memon,
2001). However Steganography operates at a more complex level as detection is
dependent on recognizing the underlying hidden data (Pavani et al., 2013). Thus, the
amount of data that can be effectively hidden in a given medium tends to be restricted
by the size of the medium itself (Artz, 2001). As more of today‟s communications
occur electronically, there have been advancements utilizing digital multimedia
signals as carrier for steganographic communication (Kumar et al., 2012).

Steganography and data hiding are not new concepts, they have a long history. It is
believed that steganography was first practiced during the Golden Age in Greece
(Artz, 2001; Amin et al., 2003). The word steganography is originally derived from
Greek words which mean “Covered or Hidden Writing” and is derived from the
Greek words steganos meaning "covered or protected", and graphei meaning
"writing" (Sharma and Shrivastava, 2012; Mandal, 2012; Godara et al., 2013; Sharda
and Budhiraja, 2013). An ancient Greek record describes the practice of melting wax
off wax tablets used for writing messages and then inscribing a message in the
underlying wood (Artz, 2001). In the 5th century BC Histaiacus shaved a slave‟s
head, tattooed a message on his skull and the slave was dispatched with the message
after his hair grew back (Johnson and Jajodia, 1998; Judge, 2001; Provos and
Honeyman, 2003). It was also reported that the Nazis invented several
steganographic methods during World War II such as Microdots, and have reused
invisible ink and null ciphers (Judge, 2001; Kahn, 1996). The scientific study of
steganography in the open literature began in 1983 when Simmons stated the problem
in terms of communication in a prison where, two inmates, Alice and Bob, are trying
to hatch an escape plan by communicating over the public channel (Simmons, 1984).

Cryptography and watermarking are data hiding and data security techniques similar
to steganography. Cryptography is the science of secret writing. In cryptography,
cipher text is generated using a secret key over plain text, ciphering of text makes it

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unreadable, only the one who knows the secret key can decipher the message into
plain text (Jain et al., 2012a; Godara et al., 2013, Stallings, 2003). The main objective
of cryptography is to secure communications by changing the data into a form so that
it cannot be understand by an eavesdropper (Pavani et al., 2013; Sharda and
Budhiraja, 2013; Hamid et al., 2012). Cryptography was created as a technique for
securing the secrecy of communication and many different methods have been
developed to encrypt and decrypt data in order to keep the message secret (Reddy et
al., 2011; Stallings, 2003).

A digital watermark is a signal which is permanently embedded into digital data that
can be detected or extracted afterwards to confirm the authenticity of the data and the
watermark may be hidden in the host data (Hamid et al., 2012; Mandal, 2012).
Watermarking focuses on protecting the watermarked data or object so that it cannot
be removed. The embedded information in a watermarked object is a signature refers
the ownership of the data in order to ensure copyright protection (Mandal, 2012). In
watermarking applications like copyright protection and authentication, there is an
active adversary that would attempt to remove, invalidate or forge watermarks
(Chandramouli et al., 2004). The watermark is hidden in the host data in such a way
that it cannot be removed without demeaning the host medium (Hamid et al., 2012).

Steganography refers to the technique of hiding information in digital media in order

to conceal the existence of the information (Li et al., 2011). Steganography
techniques tend to hide the existence of the message itself, which makes it difficult for
an observer to figure out where exactly the message is (Pavani et al., 2013, Sharda
and Budhiraja, 2013; Hamid et al., 2012; Mandal, 2012). The main goal of
steganography is to communicate securely in a completely undetectable manner and
to avoid drawing suspicion to the transmission of a hidden data where characteristics
of these methods are to change in the structure and features so as not to be identifiable
by human eye (Chandramouli et al., 2004; Raphael and Sundaram, 2011).
Steganography stresses more on preserving the secrecy of the information instead of
making the hidden information robust to attacks (Li et al., 2011). Research in
steganography has mainly been driven by a lack of strength in cryptographic systems
(Kumar et al., 2012). The fact that people are not aware of the presence of the

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message distinguishes between steganography and other forms of information security

(Aabed et al., 2007).

Table 1.1: Comparison of Steganography with Cryptography and Watermarking

Characteristic Watermarking Cryptography Steganography

Condition
Medium Mostly with image Mostly text-based any digital media
and can also be with with some extension (image, audio, video,
video and audio to image text, network
protocol)
Operation/work Embeds watermark in Rearranges secret text Fully embeds the
cover-medium in a way that it secret data into the
appears unintelligible cover-media
Perceptivity Mostly visible Fully visible Invisible
Key optional essential Optional
Deals with Robustness Protection Security and
invisibility
Protects from manipulations of data Readability of secret Detectability of
data secret data
Input Two files One file Two files
Output Watermarked-file Cipher-text Stego-file
Structure of secret does not alter Alters the position of does not alter the
data the secret data structure of secret
data
Parameters used optional optional Statistical and
in testing output structural methods
data are used
Detection method Target Blind Blind
Replacement Replaces watermark Replace the plain-text Replaces secret data
with redundant part of character with cipher- with redundant part
cover media text of cover media
Authentication usually achieved by full retrieval of data full retrieval of data
cross correlation
Objective copyright preserving data protection secret
communication
Attacks signal processing cryptanalysis steganalysis
Relation to cover- The cover is more N/A The secret data is
medium important than the more important than
secret data the cover.
Application Data authentication Mainly used in e- Wide range of
commerce and application
network applications.
Readability of Partially readable Fully readable Not readable without
secret data extraction

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Steganography finds its use in a broad area of applications ranging from computer
security, cyber-security, cyber-forensics, homeland security, field of watermarking etc
(Amin et al., 2003). There are many applications for digital steganography including
copyright protection, feature tagging and secret communication (Bender et al., 1996).
Steganography is applied in various fields and applications like intelligence agencies,
military agencies, medical imagery Systems, TV broadcasting, intellectual property
applications, advanced data structures, radar systems, remote sensing, digital
synchronization, companies‟ safe circulation of secret data, smart IDs, identity cards
etc. Steganography can be used in the field of digital forensics by examiners who look
for hidden data or trace of hidden data in digital media (Katzenbeisser and Petitolas,
2000). Businesses have also started to realize the potential of Steganography in
communicating trade secrets or new product information (Kumar et al., 2012).
Steganography is beginning to receive increased attention as their applications
become more relevant to the needs of governments, businesses, and individuals. As
privacy concerns continue to develop along with the digital communication domain,
steganography will undoubtedly play a growing role in society (Artz, 2001). The
demand for data authentication and for effective means to control data integrity has
been steadily increasing. Such a demand is due to the ease with which digital data can
be tampered. Thus, cryptography and watermarking can be replaced with
steganography for secure communication and data privacy. Steganography has
gained more and more popularity due to its versatility and its potential to secure
information.

A steganographic system involves two parties: the sender who embeds the secret
message in the cover medium and the receiver who extracts the message from the
cover. The sender takes the “host” object, which represents the cover-object, and
embeds a secret binary message produce a stego-object that is perceptually identical
to the cover. The stego-object is then communicated along a public channel to the
receiver. At the receiver the stego-object is used to extract the secret binary message.
The public channel may be monitored by an active warden whose goal is to detect the
presence of any covert communication taking place. The key (k) is optional as it may
be included in embedding process. The key is specific to the steganography algorithm
which ensures that only recipient who knows the corresponding extraction key will be
able to decode the message from a stego-image.

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Figure 1.1: The working model of the image steganographic system

A steganographic system scenario is presented in figure 1.1. If a sender wants to send

the secret message M to some recipient over the insecure communication line, the
sender embeds secret-message (M) into cover-image (C) by some embedding method
to produce stego-image (S). The key K (optional) may be used to find out the location
in C to hide the message. Then the stego-image (S) is send to recipient. Upon receipt,
the recipient uses extraction algorithm to retrieve M (extracted message).

1.1 Motivation

With the progression of the digital age, digital steganography has become more
practical and powerful as data is the soul of computer communication. The digital
information revolution has brought about profound changes in day-to-day life. Due to
the increase in exchange of data over the computer network, the security of data has
become a major concern and so the confidentiality and data integrity are required for
protecting against unauthorized access and use. This has resulted in an explosive
growth of the field of information hiding. The attacks on information systems, cyber-
security and cyber-forensics have become a primary concern for both governments
and commercial industries. For many years, data hiding have captured the attention
of designers, developers and evaluators of for processing sensitive information and to
establish covert channels in order to conceal sensitive information. Data hiding is a
method of hiding secret data into a digital medium so that the hidden data are
imperceptible to everyone except the intended recipient. There is global interest in
steganography technology, research and development has exploded in recent years.

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This is because of the potential of digital steganography to establish covert channels

for communications.

With digital steganography, it is possible to hide information inside a digital file

without causing perceptual degradation. It could be done by embedding information
inside a file through a technique that manipulates or modifies the unused bits of
digital media and such modification is not visible. Subsequently, the receiver to whom
the message is delivered can also extract the hidden information from the cover
media. Steganography provides the capability to hide the confidential data, hardness
of detecting the hidden data and strengthening of the secrecy of the hidden data.
Methods of steganography have existed for centuries, although with the advent of
digital technology, have taken on a new form. Steganography has a wide range of
applications mainly in the security of the digital data. They are also getting attentions
because of self awareness to increase security system and also after the world wide
security attack. Research in hiding data inside image file using steganography
technique is a topic of great interest. Given the proliferation of digital image and
given the high degree of redundancy present in its binary representation, there has
been an increased interest in using image as cover-objects for the purpose of
steganography.

1.2 Objectives

The ultimate goal of this research work is to develop an image steganography

technique that will be efficient in data security and protection applications. The
primary objectives of the thesis can be summarized as follows:

1. To study the steganographic technique related to image, audio, video, text and
network as cover media.

2. To study the various existing image steganography techniques viz., spatial and
frequency domain based methods.

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3. Based on the literature review, to develop a secure and improved

steganographic technique that is able to embed secret message in the image
domain and also able to extract the message.
4. Expand the image steganographic algorithms by combining them with
cryptography.
5. To design a secure LSB based steganographic approach using randomization
process that can override the measures of detection.
6. To evaluate the efficiency of the methods based on steganographic evaluation
measures like PSNR, MSE, embedding capacity, time computation etc and to
compare the performances with the existing technique.

1.3 Methodology
(i) Literature Survey:
Different techniques related to image based steganography present in the
literature are extensively studied along with their formulations. The
steganography methods involved in other digital media such as text, audio,
video and network protocol are also reviewed along with their techniques.
(ii) Implementation of existing algorithms:
The existing algorithms relating to image steganography are implemented
in MATLAB environment and applied on image datasets collected from
public domain digital repositories in the internet to evaluate the
performance of the existing techniques with regard to image parameter and
distortion analysis, computational speed and optimality of the result.
(iii)Development of stegano-crypto models:
Integrating the concept of transform and spatial domain based
steganography with cryptographic methods in order to form a
steganographic model that performs cryptographic functionality and,
preserving its steganographic nature. Firstly, the transform domain
steganographic technique is combined with an encryption method. Here
the cover-image is preprocessed before embedding. In another process,
LSB based steganographic is combined with double encryption process.
The results of both the methods are compared with existing methods.

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(iv) Design of Steganography based on random pixel selection:

Designing a secure LSB based steganographic approach using
pseudorandom number generator (PRNG) that embeds the secret data only
in the red plane of a cover-image. PRNG initiated by a stego-key is used to
embed the secret bits randomly throughout the image. Also the extraction
process is stated.
(v) Evaluation of the Steganographic methods:
The evaluation measure to test the performance of the proposed methods is
done by using several dependent variables such as PSNR, MSE, time
computation, payload size etc. Also a comparative study of the proposed
methods is conducted.

1.4 Research Contributions

i. The existing DCT based steganography is enhanced by pre-processing the

cover-image and encrypting the secret data before embedding in the DCT
domain.

ii. For increasing capacity and security, the existing LSB based steganography is
enhanced by performing double encryption of the secret message before
embedding.

iii. A LSB based method is developed that can override statistical and structural
measures of detection by spreading message bits randomly. One of the main
characteristics of this steganographic technique is that the data are embedded
only in the red plane of the cover-image‟s pixel which is determined by a
PRNG initiated by a stego-key.

1.5 Thesis Outline

This thesis continues with the chapters as follows: Chapter 2 includes a review of
different techniques and algorithmic approaches in image based steganography and

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the primary research issues. Chapter 3 introduce various digital file formats that can
be used as carrier of steganography. Chapter 4 contains study of the image based
steganography technique on both the domains is done to understand details of the
basic working process. Along with it, the attacks and techniques related to image
steganalysis are discussed. The basic evaluation measures of the image based
steganography are also discussed that are used to examine the performance of a
steganographic technique. Chapter 5 presents an approach of combining DCT based
steganography and cryptography for attaining high security of data. It also includes
experimental results and discussion. Chapter 6 presents a technique of LSB based
steganography that encrypts the secret doubly before embedding. Results and
discussion of the proposed method is also presented. Chapter 7 introduces a LSB
based embedding process that selects pixels red plane randomly for hiding the secret
data. Performance evaluation and discussion is also included in this chapter to
demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed. Chapter 8 presents the summary of the
work and draws conclusions. A comparative study of the proposed methods is also
presented. Further, some interesting potential ways for future research arising from
the work presented in this thesis are put forward.

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